In Love, Sacrifice- In Loss, Vengeance
by Alazian
Summary: The final battle to end the fifth blight is underway and everything is going as planned until tragedy strikes Kallian Tabris. To fulfill a final promise she must now take matters into her own hands, with or without the other Wardens' approval. Multiple origins universe. Mostly told from Kallian Tabris' point of view


In Love, Sacrifice; In Loss, Vengeance

Kallian, Lyna, Duran and Daylen had had just slain the second and last darkspawn general in the blood stained city of Denerim. All they could do now was join their companions in pushing through the darkspawn horde, in hopes of giving the other Grey wardens enough time to get to Fort Drakon so they could slay the Archdemon and end the fifth blight that had started only a year ago. Kallian looked towards Fort Drakon that towered over everything else in the city and prayed to the Maker that Alistair, Faren, Neria, Aedan and his dog Striker were getting close. Time was of the essence in this battle; the longer the battle dragged on the quicker their chances of success faded. As the group walked across the bridge that would take them out of the alienage, they saw the Archdemon fly directly at them. Daylen figured out what it was going to do before anyone else and yelled, "It's going to destroy the bridge, run!" As the group ran across the bridge as fast as possible the Archdemon swooped down and shot a fireball down the middle of the bridge.

Most of them made it across just in time to dodge the flying debris that flew everywhere, but Lyna who stood at the rear of the group with her bow in hand was unable able to dodge a massive rock that had once been a part of the bridge, and was sent flying several metres off of the ground before hitting the ground with a hard thud. Kallian rushed to the Dalish elf's side in a panic as she feared the worst for the archer that had meant so much to her. Relief surged through her as she found the Dalish breathing but unconscious, but her panic returned as she saw that Lyna was bleeding heavily and may not survive without medical attention. She couldn't leave her here as a group of darkspawn might come across her and kill her where she lay. Duran found this out the hard way as he said, "We can't afford to waste time carrying her with us, leave her and kill any and every darkspawn that we come across. That should keep your lover as safe as we can possibly be in this situation."

Kallian gave a vicious snarl towards Duran, angry at the fact that we would actually suggest such a preposterous idea. "I'm not leaving Lyna! You go and take care of business, I'm not going to abandon Lyna no matter what you say or do!" Duran could do nothing but grunt in disapproval at the city elf's disobedience and lead Daylen off the bridge, into further battle with the darkspawn. As Kallian took some bandages and wrapped them around the back of the Dalish's head, where most of the damage had been dealt. As the woman she loved lay unconscious, with her back awkwardly against a stone wall, she thought back to the first time they had kissed.

* * *

It had been in the Brecellian Forest as they were trying to convince a Dalish clan to join the Grey Wardens' cause. Kallian was naturally hot-tempered and rushed into situations that were made so much harder to escape. She had been insulted when she had heard the Dalish of this clan call her a flat-ear. She had rushed into a group of them and started to brandish her elven ears around yelling, "Look at these ears and tell me how they resemble that of a _shem_. I am just as much of an elf as you are, the only difference is that you stuck-up fools were lucky enough to be born in a tribe and not having to suffer under some noble's tyranny!"

As she continued ranting she felt a hand on her arm and turned to look at who had touched in anger. She gradually cooled herself down as she looked at Lyna. The women had always been able to calm her somehow. Lyna was relatively shy around the group and always kept to herself when asked anything even remotely personal. But her curiosity of the elves that lived in the city had overpowered her shyness and one night she had approached Kallian and asked her about life in an alienage while she slowly revealed parts of her own tribe and their ways of living. Kallian had been fascinated by the freedom the Dalish elves were able to achieve, answering to no one except for their keeper and family. Lyna on the other hand felt sorry for the city elves as she learned how badly they were treated usually settling for servitude for the rest of their life. It was that or a life of crime that was common where Kallian lived. The two, despite being near opposite in personality, became close friends enjoying most of their time together when they were had the chance to rest from travelling.

Lyna looked at Kallian with a concerned look and said "Maybe we should take a trek around the edges of the camp and cool down a bit." Kallian followed the Dalish woman outside the camp and saw a smile on Lyna's face that she knew all too well. Being the two fastest fighters in the Grey Wardens, they had taken to chasing after each in a test of speed and manoeuvrability to see how long one could escape from the grasps of the other. Although they were almost complete equals in this form of competition, Kallian's competitive nature usually won out over the more playful Lyna.

As they began their exercise however, Lyna was given the advantage as she had grown up in the Brecellian and was completely at home with the overgrown shrubs and protruding roots that threatened to try and trip them at any given moment. Lyna began the chase today and found she could easily keep up with the competitive city elf as she was completely unfamiliar with the forest and made mistakes in her flight that began to quickly close the gap between the two friends. After just a few minutes of fast pursuit Lyna had flanked Kallian and caught her before throwing her to the ground with a laugh. Before Kallian could get up, Lyna ran off, encouraging Kallian into action as she chased after her Dalish friend. Unfortunately for Kallian, Lyna was much more at home in the forest and nimbly passed between the gaps in the trees with speed that Kallian couldn't match for long as she began to find herself stumbling on occasion and realised she would never be able to catch Lyna like this. So she tried a tactic that had never came into mind before and stopped, before quickly climbing onto a tall branch. Now all she had to do was wait patiently until the Dalish came back into sight.

She waited approximately ten minutes before she heard footsteps, causing her to place her back against the tree she was crouched on. She then heard Lyna calling out her name seemingly worried that she had lost her friend. Oh, how sweet this victory was going to be when she caught Lyna unawares. She soon saw Lyna walk directly towards the tree she was perched upon, but was confident the leaves kept her hidden from view. It was her time to strike as Lyna unknowingly stepped right under her predator and was quickly taken down as Kallian jumped on top of her, using her full body weight to keep her pinned to the ground. "Gotcha" was all that came out of Kallian's mouth as she grinned at the elf's surprised face.

Lyna's shock was quickly replaced by uncontrollable laughter at her friend's clever tactic. "Keeper Marethari would constantly warn me to always look up; guess I never got that lesson drilled into my head enough." Kallian stared at that smile and she, for some odd reason, couldn't resist the urge to meet those lips with her own. The kiss was soft but lingered for a few moments and neither seemed to want to release it.

As she realised what she had just done, Kallian quickly got off of Lyna's body and began to apologise. "I'm sorry Lyna, I shouldn't have done that." Kallian was surprised to see Lyna's eyes become filled with joy.

"Don't apologise. I should probably come clean and admit that for the past month or so I have begun to develop more intimate feelings for you and I was scared that you would never feel the same way about me." As Lyna picked herself up from the ground she was met with a much more passionate kiss that she wasted no time in returning.

* * *

Kallian's thoughts were brought back to the present as she began to see Lyna move. She sighed in relief at the fact that she was awake. "Lyna are you ok? I was worried you had been knocked into a coma"

Lyna looked into Kallian concerned eyes and she knew that she was safe with her by her side. As she began lean up slowly from where her body had been lying prone she said, "I should be fine, I've got the biggest headache imaginable though but apart from that I'm fine. Thank you Kallian." As she looked around she noticed that a certain dwarf and mage were missing. "Where are Duran and Daylen?" Lyna began to worry that something bad had happened to them.

"Don't worry about them; they simply went off to help Sten and the others buy the other Grey Wardens' some time." Kallian tried to answer the question as calmly as possible but she couldn't refrain from letting some venom escape from her words as she said Duran's name.

"Well then we better go and help them" Lyna said as she held her hand out for Kallian to pull her up. Kallian looked at her concerned, not sure whether Lyne really was fit to fight at the current moment.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Lyna was touched by her concern but there was more at stake than some stupid headache that would dissipate over time. "Don't worry about me, I can manage" Little did she know how cursed those words were until Kallian began to pick her up. As she got to her feet she saw a Hurlock vanguard running from directly behind Kallian and looked with fear as it was about to stab the woman she loved with his massive broadsword. So she did the only logical thing that came to her at that moment and pulled on Kallian's arm, flinging her love behind her own body and taking the full force of the wound that was intended for the city elf now behind her. Before the vanguard could pull the sword out of her, Lyna unsheathed her Dar'misan blade, and removed the creature's head from its shoulders in one precise swing. As the creature dropped dead, she dropped her blade, removed the broadsword from her body and fell like a sack of potatoes into Kallian's outstretched arms.

"Why would you do that Lyna?" Kallian asked the dying Dalish in almost a whimper. "Why did you do that?!" She repeated, now yelling at the woman she loved, who was now dying in her arms.

Lyna replied so softly that Kallian could only barely hear her. "Because I couldn't stand the thought of watching you get gutted like that, I had to do something, to save you." Lyna paused for a few seconds as she began to cough up copious amounts of blood, and then added, "I would do it all over again without a single bit of hesitation."

Kallian was now crying freely as she listened to her love's last words before she died. "But I would have done the same to save you."

Lyna smiled at the city elf she had fallen so dearly in love with. "Not just the sacrifice, but everything that happened between us over this past year. Ever since I lost Tamlen a year ago, you were there as a friend who I could trust and confide in completely and I knew I would always get an honest reaction out of you no matter if it was good or bad. Lyna paused again to cough up more blood and continued. "And when we first kissed each other in the Brecellian forest, I had never felt so loved and important before that moment. That kiss was probably the happiest moment I've ever had in my life."

"But how will I be able to move on without you there to calm me down every time I do something stupid?"

"You're a fighter Kallian, you can do anything you put your mind and you will do it with such determination that nothing will be able to get in your way." She paused again but instead of coughing up more blood, she grabbed her blade from the floor and sheathed it. She then removed the sheath from her belt and handed it to the woman she had died to save. "Take it with you, it was apparently my mother's and I want you to have it to remember me by and to calm you every time you act so recklessly. I love you Kallian Tabris" and with her final words spoken, she died peacefully in the city elf's arms.

Kallian cries of extreme, emotional hurt would have been deafening if anyone was near her. But after a few minutes she realised that crying wouldn't bring Lyna back to life and she composed herself. "I love you too Lyna Mahariel" She knew she was too late for Lyna to hear those words but she needed to say them anyway. "I will always believe that a piece of you is in that blade of yours. You told me I was a fighter and now I need to prove you were right about. I will use your blade to kill the Archdemon, to grant you vengeance on it for taking everything away from you. And then I will join Lyna. This I swear to you and I'll be damned if I ever break my last promise to you"


End file.
